The Deacon's Bench
The Archbishop of New York made his remarks this morning on a New York radio show:
Timothy M. Dolan, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, who has been a low-key presence during the debate over same-sex marriagein the state, called in to a capital radio talk show Friday morning to warn that the proposed legislation posed an “ominous threat” to society.
Archbishop Dolan, who was in Seattle to preside over a meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Brooklyn had been dispatched from Seattle to Albany in a last-ditch effort to influence the Senate Republican majority, which will determine the fate of the proposed same-sex marriage bill.
The bill was proposed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and approved by the Democratic-controlled Assembly, and now the Senate must decide whether and how to vote on the measure as the clock ticks toward the scheduled end of the legislative session Monday.
Archbishop Dolan, speaking on Fredric U. Dicker’s radio program on WGDJ-AM (1300), repeatedly made it clear that he strongly opposed gay marriage, which he called “unjust and immoral,” “detrimental for the common good” and “a violation of what we consider the natural law that’s embedded in every man and woman.”
Acknowledging that supporters of same-sex marriage need just one more vote to prevail in the Senate, Archbishop Dolan said that “we are still working for the defeat of this bill,” but that “we’re realistic to know the forces pushing this are very strong, they’re well oiled, they’re well financed.” However, he said: “It’s not a done deal. There is a good chance that this is not going to pass this year.”
Archbishop Dolan was dismissive of efforts to protect religious organizations from being affected by the legislation, which he called “a couple bones to the dog.” He argued that the rights of churches are already guaranteed by the Constitution, and that as for any additional protections drafted in Albany, “we worry that, what the government gives, the government can take away.”
“We just don’t want this definitive religious freedom to be at the mercy of some government whim,” he said.
And if you want to hear another side of the debate, framed in decidedly colorful language, check out this report about one New York politician, Republican Roy McDonald, who snapped at reporters:
“You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing,” McDonald, 64, told reporters.
“You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, f— it, I don’t care what you think. I’m trying to do the right thing.
“I’m tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.”
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